Look, Kai hates crying just as much as the next cocky guy with no friends, but that doesn't mean he won't do it. That's not to say he'll do it willingly, because that certainly is not the case, especially now that he's fully ugly-crying and sobbing while sat tucked into a ball in the street.

It's humiliating, but Kai can't find himself caring.

His parents are back. Well, technically they were never truly gone, but that hurts more because that meant there was a possibility that they could've came back and found them by themselves.

But… why? Why would they try to adopt some random kids if they abandoned their own? It feels like they're being replaced, which means they weren't good enough, and Kai failed-

No, he didn't fail Nya. He didn't fail his kindergarten teacher and he didn't fail Lauren. If they want to think he did, then that's their choice. This is Kai's life, not theirs, but they seem hellbent on making it so much worse for him.

Maybe he should've got a few more hits in while he was handing out the slaps, he thinks sourly, scowling into the crook of his elbow.

Just because he knows he didn't fail people doesn't mean his parents possibly thinking so hurts any less. He's a disappointment, now, that's why they left, surely, but that means that Nya's a disappointment, too, and Kai isn't having that.

Nya's amazing, and he's- he's just left her in there with their disgusting 'parents'. Great, now he's crying again.

Sure, it is partially sad tears because he never wanted this, it was so simple before, but he is kinda furious. Kai's never been this angry before and he honestly doesn't know what to do with it anymore, so his body is deciding to cry all the anger away until he gains a conscience and realises this is the most embarrassing thing he's ever done.

He snaps his head up quickly, scrubbing and scraping at his eyes with a dangerous temper. His sleeved are soaked by the time he pulls away, so he opts for rolling them up to his elbows instead, leaving his chin against the warmth of his skin.

From this angle he can see the people who walk by him a little easier.

One woman, tall and skinny with long, dark hair obscuring her eyes, sees him and clutches her bag tighter, quickening her pace. She seems to be a graduating age, as seen by her backpack sticking as a strange shape because of all the books likely crammed in there.

The next to walk by is a large bald man who seems to be in the peak of his mid-life crisis, and he spares a brief, discreet and sympathetic look at Kai before carrying on his travels. He seems to be a father, and a caring one at that. Jealousy creeps into his head, souring anything even remotely jolly.

Third is a teenage-looking boy who seems older than himself, headphones plugged into a phone in his pocket. The boy stares curiously and disgusted at Kai the entire time he has him in his peripheral vision, so Kai scowls right back in all his bitter glory, letting him know that Kai's family angst is not on the chopping block.

Next is a tired looking woman with two toddlers in either hand with a few shopping bags pulling at her forearms. The kids stare at Kai like he's an alien while the woman tries to usher them away, yet he catches the look of pity she lets slip over her shoulder. He doesn't need pity.

He stops being able to keep track after that, emotions blurring into fiery anger, in which he venomously commands himself to not cry again. It's easier if he scowls at the tarmac road in front of him instead of deep-diving into his emotional issues, and all of it's just going to come back as nightmares later, anyways, so he'll deal with that later when these stupid, nosy strangers learn to mind their own business.

He's about one more angry thought from zoning out into blissful unawareness, so it really is a shame when some tall, bulky teen trips over him and all his stuff goes flying all over the street.

Kai wants to yell, he wants to play victim, but as the guy hastily gets up and his first move is to ask if Kai's okay, the fiery ball in his chest cools a bit.

"I'm sorry, I-" the guy rips off his headphones to hang them around his neck, fumbling to turn off the - is that a ballet song - music playing quietly from the speakers. "I should've been looking where I was going, are you okay?"

Suddenly Kai is fully aware that he's sprawled out on the hard, concrete ground with a tear stained face, filthy sleeves, messy hair and dust all over his pants. He chokes on the mere presence of air, hastily pulling himself to his feet.

His legs protest, and Kai wonders just about how long he spent crying in the street.

"I- no, I mean- yeah! Yeah, um, I'm- I'm fine… I think." It really is a testament to how messy he is right now, considering he can't even consider an idea of a response to a simple question.

The boy frowns, dark eyebrows pulling together. "I hate to pry, but…" a strand of the boy's hair falls out of its designated place in its tie and over his ear as he looks past Kai, likely to the piles of papers and belongings scattered onto the pavements.

But then his eyes focus back onto Kai again, possessions forgotten. "You look kinda… down." He gestures to his own face, in reference to Kai's tear stains.

Kai shrinks in place, before his lips twist into a scowl. This is a stranger, and he is prying, and Kai has no need to answer to him. Great. "I'm fine."

"Okay, yeah, sorry, should've known." The stranger mutters, stepping by as he bends to begin collecting his belongings.

Kai says nothing as he moves to silently help the boy, which he does not know why he does it, maybe it's just autopilot from when he was helping Nya with stuff, or something.

Something catches his eye as he picks it up, a bright vinyl record packet and there's bright letters on the front that read, 'The Royal Blacksmiths.' Kai gingerly picks up the covering, only to realise that the record had fallen out and is now completely broken.

"Err, hate to say this, but your record's kinda ruined." He says, at which the guy looks up from where he was re-organising his papers, only to put on the most crestfallen expression Kai's ever seen.

"Oh."

"You- you… you still want it… or?"

"Erm, no, not really. That your trash can over there?" Again, the guy looks over Kai's shoulder.

It isn't his, not really, and he really doesn't want to have shared ownership with his parents over anything. But this guy is super nice, and Kai is a massive sap when it gets rough, so he nods and puts it in the trash without the second thought.

The guy has his stuff together by the time Kai walks back over and is trying to sling his headphones around his neck.

"Thanks for giving me a hand, and, uh, sorry for tripping over you. You sure you're okay?"

"I'll… I'll be fine." Kai looks over his own shoulder to his parents' front door. Suddenly a new wave of confidence burns through him, and he feels invincible. "Wait- before you go, if you don't mind me asking, who're the Royal Blacksmiths?"

"Oh, just a stupid band my dad's a part of, always busy with it. Anyways, see you later."

The guy walks away, leaving Kai left feeling a new rush of limitless bravery. It's silly really, because he'll probably never see that guy ever again.

But he's a nice guy, and a friend if Kai really wanted to have one, but he's busy.

So soon-to-be friends can can it for now.

It all turns out to be one big stupid unfortunate use of language and a misunderstanding in the end, and that's just plain ridiculous.

When Kai had barged through the door in all his filthy glory, his parents were calmly explaining something to a happily crying Nya and an overjoyed Lauren, which caught him off guard.

He'd expected like, an argument, or something, and had prepared multiple comebacks while collecting the courage to turn the doorknob. But… this?

They'd hated their parents, both he and Nya, and they were living with that fact together. But now Nya seems happy with them and Kai doesn't understand why.

So he quiets down and zones out through the rest of their explanation, only really paying attention to hauling his and his sister's bags into their different rooms, letting Nya sit with him in 'his' room on the bed with him.

"I don't understand." He says abruptly, coming off a bit more agitated then he actually is. Nya's ponytail whips around when she turns to him, and all Kai can think of is that she looks small, even though she's only just smaller, if not, the same height as he is.

"What?"

"This." He gestures to the room around him. "All of this. This isn't ours."

Nya pauses, pressing her lips together. "I mean, I see where you're coming from, but it is kinda ours… well, yours."

"I don't want it," he grumbles, and he's vaguely aware of Nya scooting closer.

"You don't have to agree with me all the time. If you don't want to stay here, to try with them again, just say it. If you want to go, we'll go." She says, staring sadly at the wall.

Nya's always been smarter than him.

Part of him does want to leave, but a tiny, treacherous part of him wants to stay. To curl up in his parents arms and cry over everything that ever went wrong until Nya comes over and says it's time to watch their favourite show.

But that part of him is stupid.

They left them all those years ago without a second thought. What's to say they won't do it again? That's what makes it dangerous for Kai: he doesn't want to experience anything like that again.

But Nya likes it here, he can see she does, the tiny upturn of her mouth when their parents look her in the eye, the hopeful sheen in her eyes when she walks around the house. But now she's saying that she'll leave all this for him, and Kai, like the big sap he is, is folding like a lawn chair.

"No. I don't want to go. You like it here."

"I… this isn't about me. This is for both of us. We're siblings, Kai, we have to be together. You have to choose, too."

Kai takes a pause a reweighs his decisions as he sighs. "I don't want to go. It's- it's not that bad."

He looks over to Nya, who's got the softest smile on her face he's ever seen her wear. "Hm."

"What?"

"It's weird, when you think about it." She says, gesturing with one arm as if Kai's supposed to be able to read her mind and join her conversation.

"About what?"

"Why they left."

His heart skips a beat, his breath hitching, and Nya turns to him again. She quirks an eyebrow, squinting in confusion at him.

"It wasn't a bad reason. You were listening, right?"

Kai doesn't answer.

"They left because they were forced to, Kai. There were bad men, Krux and Acronix, who said if they didn't leave they'd kill us. They were after some special blade, and thought mom and dad had the map for it. They had the wrong one, some stupid myth about a few golden weapons, but by the time mom and dad escaped we were gone. They've been looking for us for years."

Kai's mouth is hanging agape. They- their parents knew.

That's why they weren't sorry- why they were proud of what they did- they were protecting them. And Hell, if it were him and Nya in that situation, he would've gone to live in the ocean for her any day.

And now they're sorry, and it was a mere misunderstanding, and Kai had it all wrong.

This is too much.

He hears a vague banging, probably someone knocking on the front door.

"Kai?" He thinks it's Nya, but her voice sounds lower, almost.

"I-" it's a pitiful squeak that leaves his throat before he starts tearing up, wiping shamefully at his eyes as someone warm and strong wraps their arms around him. They smell like cinnamon and hot coals and Kai feels childish for clinging onto them.

"Kai, dear, it's alright. You don't have to be sorry." It's then that Kai realises that this is not, in fact, Nya, but his mother. He pushes her away weakly, tears welling up in his eyes.

Then he just… sits there.

His ego's up and left him, leaving him with no sense of self-preservation or pride, today, hasn't it.

His mother looks worried, very much so, but also sad. She sighs, then sits beside him on the bed where Nya should be. Speaking of, where-

"Where's Nya?" He mutters, not daring to look he in the eye.

"You wouldn't respond to her so she came and got me. She's with your father in the living room, she's… entertaining your father trying to explain mechanics to him." Maya chuckles slightly at the end part, a fond undertone about her.

"That's Nya," he replies, and something about this feels wrong.

They've only just got here, only just stopped crying over the fact their parents left when they were younger, and now they're a happy family? Fully functioning? It seems too soon, too good to be true.

"Y'know, Kai," she begins, leaning back against the wall. "We never wanted to leave you or your sister."

"I- I know," he cuts her off before she can remind him again. "Nya told me, something about a map and some guys needing some dumb blade."

"Ah." Maya seems sadder now, and Kai's train of thought strays a little further.

"But- but if you need to leave us again, please just tell us you're going. We can keep secrets, nobody would know, you could-"

"Kai, we're not leaving you again." She takes his hand in her two, a tearful smile on her face. "We promise. Your father and I made a mistake not fighting back last time, and- and Krux and Acronix are gone now, anyway."

"Are they-" 'dead' is on the tip of his tongue, and part of Kai is praying she say yes.

They were the men who took their parents away, after all, why shouldn't he be mad?

"We don't know, but they're not coming back." She sounds final, almost confident, and that settles something in Kai despite it not being his desired answer.

It's almost comforting silence until Nya barges in, an overjoyed expression on her face as Ray trails behind her, trying to get her to quiet down before they disturb the neighbours.

Kai's able to catch one look at his father before Nya gets between them, an apologetic look on his father's face as well as an amused smile.

"Kai! Kai, look-"

Another knock on the door.

"Ugh! Just- just wait there for a second, I'll get the door," Nya's back down the hall before anyone can protest her answering the door, and she's took whatever it is that's so exciting with her, which means Kai has to wait.

Wonderful.

Kai really tries to listen in on what his sister is saying to the stranger, he really does, but Nya can be sneaky when she wants to be. Ray shrugs uselessly and Maya laughs, right until Nya comes back again.

"Right, so-"

"Who was at the door?" Ray asks, arms crossed where he stands near the doorway at the bedside table.

"Some tall guy called Zane looking for his father, Dr. Julien, I think? Anyways, look!"

Nya pushes something into Kai's dirty hands, and he quickly realises he never changed his clothes from sitting on the dusty pavement outside, or had a shower.

"Really, Nya? Business cards?"

"No, they're not just business cards, learn to read!" She sounds frustrated as she squints at him, waiting for him to read it. "It's-"

"Well, what are they about?" Maya asks, letting go of Kai's hand and scooting so Nya can plonk down between Kai and herself.

"They're-"

"Ninja training. To unlock our full potential." Kai reads dryly, shooting Nya a look of 'are you serious' while she glares back at him. "I thought you were smart-"

"For the sake of the First Master, Kai, let me explain!" She blows her breath out, knocking Kai with her knees as she sits cross-legged. "Some guy called Master Wu came and told me it was karate class and survival skill-based lessons, to fight for the greater good, or something like that. Oh, and they're free and align perfectly with school hours of Ninjago City High."

"That's your new school," says their father, referring to both of them.

"Yeah, so, can I go? Please?"

"Not on your own." Kai says, and the impressed look Maya gives him boosts him a little bit. "Apparently there's this guy called Lord Garmadon who keeps on attacking so I'm not having you out there alone-"

"So you can come with me."

"…fine."

THIS WAS SO LONG! It was 3052 words before editing, i just believe it's a lot.

btw I won't be making a Nya chapter for this, purely because I cannot be bothered to copy things through all over again. Also, if you couldn't tell, the guy Kai met was Cole and Nya met Zane at the door.

I missed the premiere of the Henry Danger Movie and because I'm in the UK I can't watch it until like February :( Someone PLEASE tell someone to upload it to Youtube, even if the quality it terrible… I BEG YOU!

All jokes aside, thanks a bunch to the third Guest who commented, your comment about overthinking helped me a lot, also, thanks for the support on the Zane chapter (my weakness!)